Mass Effect: Project FEAR
by HowYouRemindMe
Summary: Well, I've got a bullet in my shoulder and another in my thigh and my job hasn't even started yet but I'm nowhere near finished. Cerberus, couldn't leave me the hell alone could they? Just because I fucked up their precious project they decide they want to declare war on one man. I just hope Omega is left standing when this is all over, it kinda grows on ya. Self-insert!
1. Prologue: Where to Begin?

**Mass Effect: Project Fear**

_**Prologue: Where to Begin?...**_

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><p><em>"<strong>If you believe that dreams can come true be prepared for the occasional nightmare<strong>." - Unknown_

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><p>Where to start? Well, as it stands I'm having the shittiest day in my ever life..that's now and then! I've got a bullet in my shoulder and another in my thigh and my job hasn't even started yet but I'm nowhere near finished. Cerberus...The one organization that I decide to piss off on someone's orders, couldn't leave me the hell alone could they? Just because I fucked up their precious project (on orders, I might add!) they decide they want to declare war on one man. I just hope Omega is left standing when this is all over, because this place? Spend enough time here and it kinda grows on ya.<p>

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><p>"<em><strong>Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.<strong>_ " - _Abraham Lincoln_


	2. Chapter I: Shepard meets Miranda!

**Mass Effect: Project Dawn**

**Author Note**:

Hey! I forgot to put the A/N in on the Prologue so I'm going to cover both bases here.

This story is a Self Insert so for those who dislike SI's turn around, leave and don't slam the door on your way out. For those who like them, keep reading!

Right, now that's out the way. This chapter will be longer..I hope..than the Prologue since it's actually diving into the story. Now, I'm going to be combining Deus Ex: Human Revolution and a directive of Max Payne 3 into this but it will be mostly a Mass Effect story, if you haven't played Deus Ex: HR or Max Payne, I recommend the games, it's a they're brilliant and will keep you going back for more each time.

If you have ideas or tips to make this better etc, don't hesitate to leave it in the review or PM me if you want. Enjoy!

**I do not own Mass Effect unfortunately, though BIOWARE and EA own it because if I owned Mass Effect, Kasumi would be a romance option and we all know how that would go! I also do not own Deus Ex: Human Revolution, that belongs to Square Enix and EIDOS nor do I own Rockstar Games' Max Payne. I also do not own anything I reference in this story.**

_**Chapter 1: Just the Beginning...**_

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><p><em>"To Fear Love is to Fear Life, and Those Who Fear Life are Already Three Parts Dead." - Bertrand Russell <em>

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><p><strong>BANG! <strong>"SHIT!" I cried out as I clung to the steering wheel of my car, driving as fast as it would allow me to go. I look briefly at my passenger, kind of wondering 'How in the hell did I get dragged into this?' before today, my life was normal as an 18 year old's could get but today I met a stranger or rather, a person I'm familiar with but don't know personally. You ever get in a car, shot at and panicking, there is only three words to describe your situation: I am screwed!

I should probably tell you how I ended up in this situation before we go any further.

It started with a fairly normal day. Normal as could be, for a guy like me anyway. Wake up, eat breakfast, shower, check in with some friends on the PS3 and Skype, play some games then go to work, come home and play some more games with a can of beer or two until about 1 or 2am in the morning and go to sleep.

Now, I don't know about you but when something life-changing happens, your daily routine is changed. My routine went from that to this, avoiding capture and bullets along with trying to keep myself and certain people alive, and somehow doing a miracle of a job of it thus far! But luck only go so far in these things. Such as the current moment for a prime example of it all.

**BANG! BANG! Hissssssss! **Well fuck, there goes a tyre at this speed and you know when they say before you die, you see your life flashing before your eyes? It's completely utterly bullshit! All I saw right then was the car swerving dangerously, slamming over the train tracks and mostly avoiding the oncoming train but as my luck would have it, I end up clipping the rear of the car on the train and over we go rolling and rolling over like a bowling ball and knocking my insides around like a bottle of fizzy pop, and I'm hoping whatever happens that fizzy pop's lid doesn't come off otherwise, my brains will be plastered on the windshield and beyond.

Ever get that moment where you wish you'd done something different before you die or you think you're gonna die? Well I did. I wish I'd had the courage to kiss her when I did, I wish it had happened because right now, I'm wishing for nothing else beside a quick death, you know how it is. Funnily enough, when the car stops rolling I let out a sigh of relief before looking over at my passenger, she looks shaken but fine.

It occurs to me then, she probably doesn't experience rolling cars much if the paler than normal skin colour is any indication.

"Shepard?" She mutters "Don't do that again!" she curses out at me, still what is it with people thinking I'm Shepard?! It isn't helpful and it sure as hell isn't going to do me any favours. I should probably mention my name at this point because at any moment, I've got to go meet potentional death by federal agents pointing guns at my car, with an Asari in the back, strapped in but unconscious.

My name as you've probably guessed...is Shepard. James Shepard and yes, it appears to be that I am a relative of our good ol' hero Commander Shepard but here's the thing...I'm also an ancestor, and at this point I'm feeling like Desmond did in the Animus, when you feel like you're living your ancestors' life and any moment I'm expecting to hear Shaun throw out a witty remark. Yeah, I probably should get my head examined before anything else but this situation doesn't lend itself to self-asserting your own sanity especially with an Asari in the back of your car, unconcious and probably bleeding and a beautiful but deadly agent in your passenger seat that seems to call you Shepard out of habit to looking like your descendant. Yeah, back to the real world for me, pal.

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><p>"Come out with your hands up, on the back of your head and get on the ground! You're surrounded!" A rather rough and gruff voice sounds out over a megaphone as I come out of my reviere, I look over to my passenger then the asari in the back who appears to be just come around as the megaphone goes over the warning again. It seems she's a bit cranky, finding herself strapped in, sideways in a wrecked car and she's glowing a magnificent blue.<p>

She's pissed, wait no, that's understatement, she's mega-pissed and I think I want to keep my head so I'm not going to do anything stupid but it happens anyway. "Hello sleeping beauty, so nice of you to finally join us mere mortals back on ground zero, think you can help us out here because if anything I'm trying to avoid a date with the Grim Reaper until I'm at a ripe old age of 'dying comfortably' but given the track of my record right now, that won't happen either!" I snarked, which probably isn't the best move on my part as the asari gritted out "Kindly shut the fuck up Shepard, you're giving me a headache ontop of my current one, and this car being on it's side isn't helping none and that jackass with the megaphone, jeez, can't he just shut the fuck up?!"

Wow, ok, note to self: Do not smart arse a half-awake and half-asleep but very very pissed off asari for future references! But I can agree with the megaphone part, hasn't it occured to the shithead to check if we're alive, after that trainwreck. Either way, combined with the passenger's biotics beside me, and the asari's biotics, mixing with my latent biotics but just don't ask me how I know, I just do. It's like instinct, I think that's how most biotics work I'd figure unless you actually put your mind into the biotic movement.

Suddenly a blue-ish red wave of biotics launched the three of us out of the car, landing roughly fine on the road and as the two more active than latent biotics turned to the feds surrounding us, well let me put it in perspective for ya..

You're surrounded by feds with a shit-ton of guns which are all loaded, armed and ready to fire at the push of a button which just got blasted by a biotic wave suddenly start firing at you, you move on automatic. The agent put up a biotic shield covering the three of us while the asari, who has over-the-top powers that can match a krogan if one would compare it, threw a supermassive black hole in the mass of armed men and women, suddenly went screaming, arse over tits into this hole and never getting out if at all, most likely ending somewhere in deep space with Reapers for all you know with that black hole.

The asari yelled out, getting my attention "Shepard, we don't have long get us outta here and into cover!" Well, there's my cue since I'm the only one with a working gun at the moment! I raised my pistol, which was strapped to my leg because I don't have any other place to strap it mostly because I'm not freaking Bruce Willis in his Die Hard role but I'm doing a pretty damn close impersonation of him, Nathan Drake and Max Payne right now as I get up, avoiding gunfire and stray bullets bouncing off the biotic shield as I ducked behind the crashed car, shooting as I went, occassionly clipping close enough to a fed to put 'em back in cover. I'm not an expert marksman, despite my Call of Duty skills and most gaming skills, I've got enough to get by but I'm amateur-ish at best but it works well enough.

Suddenly a whirling portal of red, purple and blue opened up behind the three of us, I paused in my shooting briefly to look at it before deciding to do something very, utterly very stupid.

If you're ever faced between getting pinned down, shot to death and declared a traitor to the country and a way out in the shape of a flashy portal, take the portal, it hurts less but at the time you think you're in for a world of hurt! I grabbed the asari and the agent, launching all three of us, into the portal just as a bullet clipped my lip as I turned, any closer and I'd have been missing my head and if you're all like me, you very much like having your head, brain and eyeballs intact into your skull, right? Right, you are! "And that's gonna leave a scar!" I muttered, through the bleeding at a faster than should be for a 'cut' lip.

As we were in the portal, heading to our unknown destintination, I think it's time I actually told you where all this actually started.

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><p>Today, like any other day off work, I slept in until around probably 11am and I immediately noticed my bed wasn't holding just me I didn't get drunk the night before, I'm not dreaming though that is a real possibility still but no, feels much too real for that, I looked to see who was sleeping in my bed with me and I got the shock of a lifetime. As anybody would when faced with this, I practically yelped and rolled right out of bed, face hitting bedside table then the floor in one sweet moment of flawlessly combined head pain, and that hurts like a bitch to wake up to and as I stood up and looked down at my bed. I was damn confused, utterly shocked and somehow pleasantly surprised all at once.<p>

I had Cerberus agent/loyalist/cheerleader Miranda Lawson in my bed, for those of you who are not familar with that name, allow me to enlighten you...MIRANDA...LAWSON... from the Mass Effect games, (and there's the keyword 'games') right next to me. Okay, don't get me wrong here, it would be a dream come true, if it wasn't for the fact she was supposed to be a FICTIONAL character in a game of aliens, giant killer squiddy robots and stuff-of-sci-fi goodness! That's one of the keypoints! A GAME! Christ in a handbasket. Now, I'm not sure whether to doubt my sanity or just roll with the punches but since it's way too fucking early for this shit, I'll be rolling the punches, or rolling with...whatever. Now since insane hallucinations like Isaac Clarke in Dead Space had couldn't actually feel so real as Miranda looks right now..I'm not going to doubt my sanity though it may be called into question when she wakes up and tries to attack me and I have to try explaining just WHAT THE HELL happened.

I shook my head and muttered under my breath reiterating my earlier words "It's too fucking early for this.." and walked out of my bedroom, to my bathroom and leant on the sink, looking in the mirror. I studied myself for a few minutes: I was basically average for one thing with emerald green eyes that looked to be glowing with unbridled power (I swear, that wasn't happening yesterday), dark brown/black-ish hair and the only odd thing about was I had a scar running across my chin and another where a piece of my eyebrow is supposed to be instead there's a scar there. Now, I know my own face but they weren't there yesterday! "What the hell? Did I pull a 'Hangover' last night?" I muttered as I ran a finger across the scars then while I looked back at my bedroom, Miranda stirred. I was still trying to wrap my head around this when I heard a scream and a thud, which was her hitting the floor no doubt.

I looked back at the mirror uttering a few choice swears before facepalming and grabbing my shirt from last night off the rack because it does not bode to well to see a guy walk back into the bedroom shirtless and to someone like Miranda that doesn't leave alot of room for interpretation. I poked my head through to see her looking right at me and I wasn't sure what to feel, those beautiful pools of confused icey blue eyes. Was I to feel sorry or pity? But in all truth, I was as confused as she was. I walked into the bedroom and sat down on the bed and letting her recompse herself, looking at her before she spoke "Where am I? What's happened?" she was suprisingly calm for a woman who's just appeared in a stranger's bed, with no memory of who, how and why.

"You're not the only one with questions." I responded before she blinked twice and looked like she was examining me then as I was about to say something. "Shepard? What are you doing here?" she questioned, at that I did a double take.

Now if her waking up in my bed didn't surprise me before, THAT certainly did. I quickly backtracked and blinked. "I'm not Commander Shepard, I'm not even remotely Commander-like. I'm James, James Shepard."

She blinked before noticing the subtle differences, "Oh, oh I apologize!" I interrupted "Oh, no need to apologize. Just, how did you know my name when I hadn't given it to you?"

She replied with one of the most scary things I've ever heard, now I know how it feels for Desmond to know he has the same scars as Altair and Ezio. "It's just..those scars look eeriely similar to Commander Shepard's."

And oh so fucking wonderful, the universe has a sense of humour. Not only does it give me Miranda, it makes me look like the Comannder Shepard. Oh, the fucking irony. What are the chances Commander Shepard is my descendant? She shook her head and looked at me and quizzed me on where she was I responded quite bluntly with "England, January 2013."

That is when she began to freak out, trying to think of a plausible explanation. While I was still reeling from supposedly 'looking' like my descendant Commander Shepard.

Shortly after that, she fainted after exhausting herself for a plausible explanation but none would come. I put her into the bed to recover while I went to make breakfast usually for myself but not today, it seems today it's me + 1.

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><p>After that little fainting episode and after we ate breakfast, we began to talk and I felt myself starting to actually accept that she was real and she knew my descendant while she, albiet slowly is accepting that something thrusted her into 2013 and I accepted right off the bat that something was off. Of course, you would when you wake up to find her next to you. The remainder of the morning and early afternoon whizzed by, me and Miranda having little conversations here and there and a late lunch.<p>

By the late afternoon, we were sitting in the living room and watching tv while I was trying to figure out why this happened, she too no doubt. She didn't look to be focusing on the tv, even if she gave the impression she was. It was subtle but you could see her eyes were unfocused on the tv, apparently she did what I did too when in too deep thoughts. Eventually, I decided to get her attention and broke the silence that had been hanging over us since a while back.

"Look, this is a bit, confusing and all. I've been trying to figure out what happened.." and to my surprise she interrupts me "I have too, there's nothing in my memory that indicts what could've caused this. Last I remember was going to sleep in my quarters aboard the Lazarus station. Also, I spotted some pictures of you around your house and..Looking at you now, you don't have scars in the pictures but here..They look similar to Shepard's, very eeirely similar almost like you're a mimicry of him or more accurately, he of you."

Again, I was surprised but that doesn't mean I have to be completely rational about it. "Look, Miranda I told you. I'm not Commander Shepard..A possible ancestor, yes but not Shepard himself."

Now it was Miranda's turn to speak again and blow me away. "The scars made me think you were Shepard until I look at you altogether, you're fit and you move like a predator, but for the most part you're like a dog." Oh geez Miranda, compliment with the 'fit and predator' line then low blow me with the dog comment! That's insulting, she's practically calling me a mutt! "Don't mistake me, I'm not calling you a lazy mutt, I'm merely saying you decieve well enough but to all but the trained eye."

I retorted with a witty "I suppose I shouldn't take offense, Miranda, I mean I a dog but THAT dog comment has me thinking you're comparing me to a mutt if anything, I'm a purebred pedigreed dog! But I know you didn't do it puporsefully." She and I shared a small chuckle at that but looking at it from her perspective?

Well, that's true I suppose. Taking alot of combat trainings in different areas has toned me up quite alot from my highschool days, along with a little formal training of army boot camp most summers. Since those days, it's instictive I suppose, second nature to me.

If today was a good day so far, I really don't want it to get worse. I'm fine and companionable with Miranda, I really don't need anymore of the universe's curveballs.

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><p>True to Murphy's Law, it actually did toss me another curveball.<p>

While me and Miranda were talking, a blue-purple-red mixed portal opened up and I turned my eyes to it before jumping off the couch, backwards and hitting the floor and rolling to my desk and pulling out the loaded glock I keep in there for safety purposes such as burglars and in this instance, weird ass portals while Miranda's instincts caused her biotics to flare up.

That is, until a familiar person was thrown out of the portal looking..thing..and sent flying over the back of the couch, Miranda ducking and me standing up at the wrong moment to aim and getting barrelled straight into a wall, back first.

All I have to say to that is "Ouch!" unfortunately, I wasn't alone in that statement "Ow! Oww! What happened?!" a distinctly 'cute' voice spoke.

I looked down, at the figure that was cramped against me and blinked not once, not twice but three times.

Miranda and I both said at the same time "Liara?!", forcing her to open her eyes properly and first thing she sees is me.

No doubt looking like Shepard, as Miranda thinks. And true to everything so far, she does and in that lost, confused but cute voice of hers she asks "Shepard? Miranda? What's going on?"

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><p><em>At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. - Aristotle<em>

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><p><strong>AN**: CLIFFHANGER! Sorry, I had to. I didn't know what else to do for the moment. Unfortunately, I got to listening to _Health_ - _Tears_, _Story of the Year - Just Close Your Eyes_ and _The Heavy - Short Change Hero_. (Not in that order).

I'll try to come up with chapter 2, fast. No promises though. Leave some reviews if you can. I welcome ideas!


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